Congress MPs to play con­struc­tive role for key bills

NEW DELHI: De­spite the re­cent stand-offs in Par­lia­ment dur­ing dis­cus­sions on in­tol­er­ance and com­mit­ment to the Con­sti­tu­tion, the Congress has de­cided it will not ob­struct non-con­tentious leg­isla­tive busi­ness but strongly raise is­sues of pub­lic im­por­tance in both Houses.

A Congress strat­egy meet­ing chaired by party vice-pres­i­dent Rahul Gandhi on Thurs­day, how­ever, de­cided to cor­ner the gov­ern­ment in Par­lia­ment on is­sues such as price rise, black money and cor­rup­tion. Party lead­ers stressed the need for greater co­or­di­na­tion among mem­bers of both Houses on cru­cial is­sues. There is a grow­ing re­al­i­sa­tion in the Congress that stalling Par­lia­ment could prove counter-pro­duc­tive as some of the “friendly Op­po­si­tion par­ties” wanted the two Houses to func­tion so that the gov­ern­ment could be held an­swer­able on cer­tain is­sues.

Even on the goods and ser­vices tax (GST) is­sue, the main Op­po­si­tion party is in­clined to ac­com­mo­date the gov­ern­ment’s con­cerns in its ne­go­ti­a­tions over the con­sti­tu­tional amend­ment bill.

“How long can you block a bill which had been brought by your own gov­ern­ment?” said a Congress func­tionary privy to Thurs­day’s strat­egy de­lib­er­a­tions. The Congress will for­malise its re­sponse to gov­ern­ment pro­pos­als on the GST in an in­ter­nal meet­ing to be held soon af­ter party chief So­nia Gandhi’s re­turn from the US.